Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Thalia sings Tagalog Philippines

Richard Gutierrez and Marian Rivera new Valentine movie news below, but enjoy this classic Thalia video, "I Found Your Love (Gracias a Dios)" released exclusively for the Philippines from her multi-platinum Filipino-Tagalog album, Nandito Ako, in which she dresses up in a Basic Instinct inspired S&M bondage outfitand ties up a half naked guy upside down, shaves him, rips off his clothes, and then sprays him with a rubber hose, hehe. And then, she lights her breasts on fire! (Watch the video to see how she did that!) Let's see Marian Rivera do something like that! Haha. Video below these images:Thalia - I Found Your Love (Gracias a Dios)I'm not sure if this was actually seen by many Filipinos in the Philippines during those times, because due to the racy content, it probably would've been banned by the MTRCB. Hehe. But they're prudes like that, don't even show your knees on TV, that's too racy for them! Hahaha. You can also see Thalia performing this song live at Araneta stadium in the Thalia in Manila Video Gallery, scroll down to see the video. Also, enjoy these clips of Thalia singing in Tagalog on Don Francisco in Miami, Florida:Chika LangMariang Taga BarrioChika Lang Full Song

The Bright Boys and the Spice Boys of the House of Representatives are scrambling mad over one another for the rare chance to be in the same frame with Fernando Carillo/Jose, male lead of the smash-hit telenovela Rosalinda, who¹s arriving tomorrow for a week-long promo visit for his new soap Siempre te Amare (produced by Viva Television for RPN 9), with a concert at the Araneta Coliseum on Sept. 23 as highlight.

Would you believe the "Young Turks" of Congress, supposedly the "hope of the Fatherland," throwing caution to the wind over a macho showbiz hero, threatening to engage in, heaven forbid, palengkera squabble for the attention of one Fernando Jose!?! What some people will do ­ to the point of brazenly sacrificing their dignity and their own "macho" reputation at the altar of media mileage ­ to get a share of the limelight.Shame, shame, shame!

If the Bright Boys and the Spice Boys would kill one another for Thalia, Fernando Jose¹s sexy and seductive Rosalinda leading lady, it would be understandable and more "heroic," wouldn¹t it be?

In the meantime, while Œem Boys are going gaga over Fernando Jose, let¹s listen to what Thalia has to say about all the rumors spicing up the international media and the Internet concerning her lovelife and her career.

This 30-minute phone Conversation, conducted between thousands of miles (Thalia was in London and I was in Manila), was arranged by EMI-OctoArts Records which is releasing Thalia¹s new album, Arrasando. It was 12 midnight in London and 7 p.m. in Manila, and Thalia was just about to turn in. She said she was talking to Conversations from bed.

As usual, Thalia was sweet as ever, freely talking about her new love, Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola, and new developments in her life and career, wishing to come back for another visit, more memorable perhaps than her twin visits back in 1996.

It¹s okay for the Bright Boys and the Spice Boys to claw their way to the side of Fernando Jose but the rest of the world, I¹m sure, would rather have Thalia.

Hello, Thalia, how are you?

"Good. How are you? I¹m okay. Good, good! Nice to hear you!"

I doubt if you remember but I met you ­ very briefly, from afar ­ at a presscon when you visited Manila a few years ago.

"Oh, yeah! That was a long time ago, huh?"

What are you doing in London? Shooting or what?

"We are doing promotion for my new album, Arrasando (Taken By Storm, released locally by OctoArts-EMI)."

"Yeah. Salamat po!" Do you know that Fernando Carillo/Jose is coming to Manila?

"Oh, good for him! I wish I could be with him in Manila. It¹s amazing!"

When are you coming back? We¹re missing you already.

"I¹m really looking forward to coming back there; I wish I could show Fernando Carillo a little bit of what I knew... the people that I¹ve met there... the places that I¹ve visited there... all the things that I¹ve seen while I was there. I miss Manila very much... really, really miss Manila."

That was about four years ago.

"I miss all the people there who always, always give me the opportunity to be somebody over there."

But you¹re a somebody not only over here but everywhere! All over the world! "Am I?"

What are your fond memories of Manila?

"The people are very kind, very sweet, very friendly. I made many, many friends over there. I also remember so much the music; I remember also the food. I remember everything!"

What food did you like most?

"Oh, my God, everything! Everything was amazing! Especially the breakfast. Never in my whole life have I tasted a breakfast so amazing!"

What kind of breakfast was that?

"It was meat with a sweet juice; it was with eggs, too, and with bacon, and with fried rice, and with potato, and everything! I get hungry just thinking of that breakfast."

Do you know that your telenovela Rosalinda is a big, big hit in the Philippines, like Marimar?

"Yeah. Thanks to God and thanks to all the people of the Philippines. I want to thank the people there for allowing me to be part of their homes (During telecast of Rosalinda and her other telenovela Quinceanera. ­ RFL)."

When did you shoot Rosalinda?

"We did it like approximately two and a half years ago."

Was it after Marimar?

"No, no, no. Not after Marimar. After Marimar came Maria la del Barrio."

How long did you shoot Rosalinda (now being replayed on ABS-CBN, Monday through Friday, 10 to 10:30 p.m.)?

"Approximately one year... about 10 months."

All over Mexico?

"Just in Mexico City."

How did you find your role as Rosalinda (the poor girl who triumphs in the end)?

"Oh, I always love the Cinderella story. It¹s the kind of story that everyone in the family can watch ­ the grandfather, the grandmother, the father, the mother, the children. In my soap operas, there¹s no nudity. It¹s like Cinderella¹s story. Very wholesome. It¹s like a dream. It¹s a story that people like and that gets people involved."

Do you identify yourself with that kind of role?

"My emotions are kind of like Rosalinda. I mean, she¹s such a dreamer; she¹s a romantic; she fights for the future, she fights for love, so I identify so much with her. Rosalinda is one of my favorite roles ever; that one and Marimar."

Speaking of love scenes and kissing scenes... Now that you¹re doing movies in Hollywood (her starrer, Mambo Cafe, is showing soon in Manila), what would you do if you¹re offered a movie that requires a kissing scene or a love scene? Would you accept it?

"You know what... I don¹t like colds. I¹m freezing all the time! I really cannot accept that kind of role. Let me tell you something... I have the approval of many audiences around the world, in different languages, different cultures, without taking off my clothes and just with my performance in the soap operas, and just with my music. So basically, I don¹t need roles like that (with kissing and/or love scenes). I¹ve been doing this since I was 9 and I never took my clothes off, not even a blouse; I never took it off. So I¹ll never gonna do it."

How nice of you! We love you as you are ­ with your clothes on.

"You know, in the future, in the long term I really want to have a family; I¹m really looking forward to that. I can¹t imagine one of my children will come to me and tell me, ŒHey, Mommy, my friend in school showed me this magazine and you¹re naked.¹ You know. I don¹t want my children to suffer."

Is it because of your Catholic upbringing that you don¹t like sexy roles?

"It¹s not because of that; it¹s because of ethics. You know, my family tells me, ŒDo whatever your heart tells you.¹ My heart tells me not to take off my clothes so I¹m not gonna do it. Anyway, Thalia plays two roles; one is the actress and the other is the singer. The actress is more conservative while the singer can be more sexy."

How was it working with Fernando Carillo/Jose? Did you know him before Rosalinda?

"No, never; never before Rosalinda. I just knew him because of his work. The experience of working with him is just amazing. He¹s such a good guy; very, very nice person. We worked together very good. He¹s great. His brothers are amazing, too. Yeah, he¹s such an amazing guy. I¹m sure that we have the best chemistry ever in television. He¹s my best co-star."

Is he romantic also just like you?

"I don¹t know. The only thing I can tell you is that on the set, we laughed all the time. There were occasions when we couldn¹t work because we were just laughing and laughing, playing and playing, jumping all over the set. We were just like two kids playing."

There was a report that Fernando Carillo/Jose courted you during the shooting of Rosalinda. Was it true?

"No, no! You know what, he¹s like that with all the women. Cariñoso. I¹m telling you now... If I am in the Philippines, I should tell the women to be prepared."

Why?

"Because he¹s very sweet with all the girls! But he¹s respectful, too. We talked since the beginning of (Rosalinda) and we told each other, ŒYou know what, let¹s just be friends. Let¹s just be the best friends we can ever be.¹ Even after Rosalinda we¹re still talking; we¹re still in contact with each other."

He¹s still a bachelor, isn¹t he? He¹s still single, isn¹t he?

"Bachelor? Single? I really don¹t know."

There was also a rumor that you¹ve found a new love, none other than Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola. True or not?

"Well, that¹s one of the reasons why Fernando and I didn¹t have any relationship because when I started Rosalinda, I already had a boyfriend. Yes, Tommy!"

"Oh, well, almost three years and a half. Oh, I think more than two years and a half."

How do you find Tommy?

"I find him amazing. I don¹t really want to go into my personal life. But the only thing I can tell you is that I¹m very happy and I¹m so in love; I¹ve found a soulmate. He¹s a person who really takes care of my soul, of my dreams. HeŒs such a good, good, good person; an amazing person!"

Do you think you¹ll end up at the altar?

"Let¹s wait for the next episode. Let¹s follow the soap opera. Let me tell you... This is the best soap opera that I can ever do in my whole life! A real soap opera."

Do you have new telenovela coming up, aside from Rosalinda and Quinceneara (now being shown on RPN 9)?

"Quinceneara was my first hit soap opera; I did two before that. It was the one that really gave me the opportunity. Right now, I¹m reading several (scripts) but it¹s basically the same story all the time. I really prefer to wait until I find a really amazing project, a great idea and a great story. I¹m willing to wait a little bit."

What role would you like to play next time?

"I¹m telling you... I like the Cinderella story. I really would like to still do that but with a new concept, new setting, new pattern."

"My favorite? Marimar! Why? Because I identified completely with the little, little girl who lives in the beach. Free and wild with her dog. Just running in the beach, just enjoying life. I identified with Marimar when she was a little girl; I felt just like her. I also felt very close to Rosalinda because she was completely romantic and completely, you know, her mind was focused all the time."

You have a movie called Mambo Cafe. Could you tell us more about it?

"Mambo Cafe is such a funny project. I play a completely different character, a new character for me. She¹s arrogant, you know, pretentious; different from my soap opera characters."

Is this your first Hollywood movie?

"Yeah. It¹s more like an independent film; it¹s not like the most amazing production, you know. But the script is so good; it will make the audience laugh too much. It¹s about a Latin family living in New York City and the funny stuff that happens to the family. I had fun making that movie and I hope to do another movie soon."

It¹s showing in Manila very soon.

"Oh, yeah? I wish I was there to promote it."

We wish the same thing, too.

"You know what... I talked with my record company over there and we¹re putting something together, something that will bring me back to Manila with my family. I¹m eager to see how things are over there. I¹m praying that I can go back to the Philippines."

Could you tell us more about Arrasando, your album?

"Arrasando is an album full of life, full of happiness. You listen to the songs of the album and you start to get up from your seat and you start dancing, you start moving your feet and tapping your fingers, you start to forget about all your problems."

How different is it from your other albums, such as Amor a la Mexicana and En Extasis?

"Amor Mexicana reflects more of the Latin rhythm while Arrasando is more of pop music with the flavor of the Latin rhythm."

What¹s your favorite song from Arrasando?

"Oh, I like the title song, Arrasando, definitely. And the romantic song that is named Why Do I Cry. It¹s so beautiful and so tender. I¹m gonna record that in English. I also like Reincarnation. And Rosalinda, of course, which is included in the Arrasando album."

You once recorded a Tagalog song, Nandito Ako. Remember?

(Proceeds to sing) "Mayroon akong gustong malaman... Oh, you know what, I¹ve seen that your (Filipinos¹) side of romanticism is so big. Nandito Ako was the first song that I heard when I arrived in Manila and I fell in love with it. I said, ŒGuys, I don¹t know what you¹re gonna do but I¹m gonna record this song!¹ And I did. It¹s one of my favorite songs ever."

What do you enjoy more, singing or acting?

"Both. I love both, but if you really, really want to know... I prefer the stage. Because in the stage, as a singer, you can also act, you can perform a song, you can act a song. You can be an actress and a singer at the same time."

Do you have any favorite singer?

"I love Celine Dion. I love her voice. Very simple and very dramatic. I love her!"

Any favorite song?

"I have so many, especially also the songs of Tina Turner and Elton John."

So you¹re now in London for your album promo. Where else are you going?

"From here, we¹re going to Budapest, Hungary, Greece, Miami to work again, to New York for more work, and then I¹ll be back in London."

Where are you based?

"I live between Florida and Mexico. My family is now moving to Florida. My Dad is dead. I only have my Mom, Yolanda. We¹re five sisters; some of them are divorced."

When you get married, how many children do you want to have?

"Oh, only three."

What are your immediate plans?

"If I find a new story for a telenovela, I¹ll start work on it as soon as possible." What about for yourself, as a private person? Do you have time to enjoy yourself? You¹re always working.

"Yeah, definitely! I have time to be with my family, with my friends, with my boyfriend. I have time to enjoy life, go out for dinner, go to the movies and live a normal life."

So you still have a normal life in spite of your popularity?

"You know, first, I¹m a person; and second, I¹m an artist. Most of the people in this business want to be the artist first and then the person after. In my case, I prefer to live and enjoy life. After that, I work."

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

"First, eradicate the pain and hunger in the world. Second, find the right government for my country and make my country improve and make my country so beautiful. Third, happiness for everybody, with the blessing of God."